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Stereophonics ‘Pull The Pin’
We were supposed to have a deal, a tacit yet immovable agreement. Remember the pact, guys? It was simple enough to adhere to, after all: Stereophonics would throw out material akin to a meal made exclusively of carbohydrates while the critical fraternity would gleefully chuck the indigestible mess down the waste disposal chute.
It was simple enough to stick to but no, Stereophonics had to ruin everything with the curveball that was ‘Dakota’.
Quite the defining moment, that single; without warning it caught the naysayers off-guard. People who’d written the band off as being little more than Oasis with bigger amps and fewer laughs found themselves washing their bodies frantically in the shower after finding out who they’d been dancing to: Stereophonics? Really? Christ…you’d be better pour me another stiff one…
Anyone thinking that Stereophonics are about to sprinkle pop dust over their material again is about to be wrong-footed once more. Like Oasis, the Welsh-Argentinean trio are steeped in traditional rock values, a rock’n’roll oil tanker that takes eons and much planning to effect a change in direction. Whereas music for the Gallaghers seemed to have lost any tangible meaning the day Paul McCartney announced his departure from the Fab Four, Stereophonics have struggled to keep up since Rod Stewart decided that spandex, disco and LA held more sway for him than the good time bonhomie of The Faces.
In their favour, Stereophonics do at least keep up with current events and the opening of triptych of ‘Soldiers Make Good Targets’, ‘Pass The Buck’ and ‘It Means Nothing’ attempts to tackle the thorny subjects of the Iraq War and the London bombings of July 2005. Working against them are the ham-fisted lyrics that grate against bombastic retro riffs. The trio’s desired effect is considerably lessened by an album cover depicting a pair of sexed-up lips sharing a grenade pin and the track that follows immediately after, ‘Bank Holiday Monday’, a depiction of a boozy lost weekend is completely at odds with what went on before it.
‘I Could Lose Ya’ is informed by the charming image of Kelly Jones receiving a blowjob in a darkened cinema while the delicate issue of teenage stabbings on ‘Daisy Lane’ is handled with boxing rather than kid gloves and a lack of emotion that finds Jones straining like a constipated Liam Gallagher.
With ‘Pull The Pin’, it’s business as usual with Stereophonics. Long time observers will delight in the band’s continued conservatism as they doubtlessly and loyally send this rocketing up the charts while the rest of us shudder at the thought of the near miss that was ‘Dakota’. The deal’s back on.
Julian Marszalek
Stereophonics ‘Pull The Pin’ (V2) Released October 15th 2007
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